For Whatever Kind of Puzzle You Got
by karabair
Summary: Paninya wants to give something back, to repay all the help she's gotten. But that isn't as easy as it sounds. Paninya/Winry. Title is from the song "Least Complicated" by the Indigo Girls


Paninya helps Winry move her things into the apartment above Mr. Garfiel's studio, and it's all a lot of fun until Winry squints up at her and says, "Where is it that you live, anyway?"

Winry is kneeling beside the steamer trunk that her grandmother shipped from Resembool, sorting through clothes, and Paninya suddenly becomes absorbed in checking for space in the closet. "I think you can put those here," Paninya says, which is obvious since there isn't anything hanging in the closet yet. Winry staggers over with an armful of sundresses. She hands them off one by one to Paninya, who works worldlessly at arranging the dresses on hangers.

Paninya is thinking that she has successfully changed the subject, but then Winry asks, "Do you live far from here?" As though Paninya maybe just didn't hear her the first time. "It would be nice if you could come by for dinner sometimes, if it's close. Or, if it's far, if the people you are working for give you a break in the day, maybe you could come to the studio at lunchtime. Mr. Garfiel's - ahh - friend makes us really good lunches and he said he loves cooking for company."

"It's Rush Valley," Paninya says with a shrug, letting Winry take whatever she will from the answer.

"Oh, right." Winry giggles. "I guess nothing's very far from anything else."

"The town's not that big," Paninya agrees, and she ought to let it be. But this is _Winry_. There's something about those big earnest eyes that makes Winry very hard to lie to, even if the lie is just to keep her from being upset. So Paninya goes on. "Also, it's very hot here. And it barely ever rains. Who wants to be inside all the time in Rush Valley?"

"Paninya!" Winry squawks, almost dropping a pile of tube tops. "Do you not have a home?"

Paninya scratches the back of her neck. "People are really friendly here. I've almost always got a place to stash my stuff and a back room to sleep in if it rains." Or a roof to sleep on when it doesn't, though she won't try to explain that part. Falling asleep with the stars overhead, getting woken by the dawn in your eyes so that you can scram from the rooftop before the daytime sun makes it too hot to bear. For Paninya, that is _life_, but she worries that Winry will see it as a tragical circumstance.

"Do you feel safe?," Winry demands with a frown.

Paninya rolls her eyes, and raises a knee to remind the other girl of the firepower embedded in her automail. "I think I'm okay."

"Sure," Winry says, as though she's agreeing. Then she yells, "Mr. Garfiel! Is it okay with you if Paninya lives here too?"

Garfiel is backing into the room, carrying one end of a dressing table that the Dominics had bought Winry as a thank you gift for delivering Satella's baby. "Well, I don't know, love," Garfiel says, looking over his shoulder at Paninya. "Do you promise not to steal from me?"

Garfiel's roommate, Theo, follows him into the room, carrying the other end of the table. "Now, Gar, sweetie. Don't be an ass. You know Paninya only steals from tourists. Locals like you and me are safe as houses with Little P in our house." They set the furniture down, and Theo turns to wink at her. "Isn't that right?"

"I don't steal from anyone anymore!" Paninya objects. "I'm switching to honest work!" Not that she's really offended by the assumption. The "honest work" resolution is new, it was only formed after significant moral pressure from Winry, and she hasn't exactly had time to put it into practice yet. She's been busy helping Winry get settled in. With a hopeful look at Theo, Paninya asks, "Do you know of any place I could do honest work?"

Theo is a professional sign painter, by far the most skilled in Rush Valley, and as such, has contacts with every business owner in the city. "I'll see what I can do," he says. "Meanwhile, you should take your meals here. We always have some extra and I _love_ to cook."

"Oh my God, oh my God!" says Winry, pulling Paninya into a hug. "I can't believe we're going to be roommates. "

Paninya mumbles into Winry's shoulder. "I guess we are." She's confused about how exactly this happened, but then, there are a lot of things about Winry that she hasn't quite figured out.

The reason Garfiel needs to take on an apprentice - and the reason he can afford to feed and house her - is that one of his mentors is retiring, and Garfiel will inherit most of his clients.

"David taught me most of what I know," Garfiel tells Paninya. They're seated at the lunch table, sharing a hot plate of sweet corn fritters that Theo has just set on the table. "I will teach Winry, she will pass on that knowledge to apprentices of her own. This is how it's done in Rush Valley."

The kitchen sits behind the shop, and Garfiel has left the door open to watch Winry at work with a client. It's his way of supervising her while also giving her space. Also, the fritters smell really good.

Paninya would like to sit here and eat Theo's amazing cooking all day, but she doesn't want to be greedy, and she needs to head back to her work site before long. So she leaves the men in the kitchen, and wanders into the studio.

Winry is tightening a bolt in the automail elbow of her client, a solidly built woman with short, silver hair, and a wide scar down the side of her face. Paninya recognizes her as the stepdaughter of David Lovell, the engineer who is retiring. She and her mother don't make automail, but they run a shipping business that makes sure the right parts get to the right engineers and artisans.

"Paninya," the woman says, with a terse nod. She has a reputation for being a hardass, but she once found Paninya sleeping in her stockroom, and made her tea instead of calling the police.

"Hi, Major Chase!" says Paninya.

Winry's hands freeze on the wrench. "I didn't know - I didn't realize you were -"

"Retired," says Chase. "On disability, technically, because, well -" She looks at her arm.

"That's weird." Paninya sits on a workbench and swings her leg. "Automail should make you a better fighter."

Winry's lips purse, and she speaks stiffly. "Granny says it's because the Army doesn't want to pay for good quality automail. And they don't want to pay the full cost of proper rehabilitation, either." She hesitates, and looks up at Chase. "No offense."

"It's all right. I was lucky to have a good engineer in the family when I got hurt. But I had enough service years in, together with my combat allowances, to retire with a full pension." Winry lets go of the wrench. Chase flexes the arm and smiles to show she's satisfied. "A lot of people I served with weren't so fortunate."

"That's good -" Winry says. "I mean - it's, ahh, it's good you were lucky. Not that other people weren't. Just, see -" She looks at the floor.

"Soldiers make Winry nervous," Paninya says, trying to help.

"That's not true!" Winry says, nonsensically, since she has _told_ Paninya that it's true. "That is -" She looks apologetically at Chase. "It is, sometimes. Not specific people but - " She swallows, and looks down at the arm. "Did that happen to you in Ishbal?"

"Yes," says Chase.

"Oh," Winry says. "My parents -" she begins.

"You're the daughter of the Rockbell doctors?" says Chase. "I thought you might be. Everyone was very sorry when it happened."

"It's all right." Winry dabs at her eyes, and sits down on the work bench, leaving space beween her and Paninya. "It was a long time ago." Then she gives a bright smile, and Paninya thinks how unfair it is, for a girl with hidden tragedies in her past to feel the need to smile all the time.

"Hey." Paninya moves to put a hand on Winry's shoulder. "I'm sorry." Winry is going to let her lean in close, maybe, but right then the town bell sounds, marking the end of Paninya's lunch hour.

Winry smacks Paninya's hand, and pushes it away with an attempt at a playful expresison. "Don't be late," she says severely. "You don't want to lose your first honest job."

And, because she couldn't stand to let Winry down, Paninya grabs her toolbox and scrambles for the door.

Paninya goes back to work at the roofing job, where her agility and Theo's connections helped get her hired as a day laborer. The long day's heat is finally starting to fade when Maggie Earhart, the building contractor supervising Paninya's job, calls up to her. "Hey, P!"

Paninya skitters to the edge of the roof, looks down at the stocky ex-soldier standing below her, and wonders what she's done wrong.

"Is everything all right, ma'am?" Paninya asks, putting on the air of total innocence she's had to perfect over years as a serial pickpocket. The fact that she _is_ (probably, she thinks) innocent doesn't make it easier, just more awkward.

"Put the hammer down," Maggie says. "We don't all have your bionic legs. Some of us are ready to knock off for the weekend. Besides -" She grins as she holds up an envelope.

_Right,_ Paninya thinks. _They give you money for doing work._ She's been at this for weeks. There must be a point when she'll get used to it. For now she pockets the hammer into her tool belt and grips the edge of the roof. Then she moves into a handstand, swings out into the air and, using the building's wall to brace herself, executes a backflip and lands solidly on her automail feet.

Maggie arches her eyebrows. "Very nice. One day a world class acrobatic troupe will come through town looking for recruits and your fortune will be made. Until then -" She hands Paninya the envelope. "Don't spend it all in one place."

Paninya think that she must, secretly, be impressed.

The truth is, Paninya has no idea where to spend her money. All she's ever wanted money _for_ is to pay back Mr. Dominic's kindness in repairing her legs. Now that Paninya is earning her pay honestly, the old mechanic has grumpily (and "grumpily" is the only way he does anything, including the miracle of kindness that transformed Paninya's life) agreed to take some of the money. But not all of it, not even much of it.

"Hold onto this, kid," he had grunted, the first time she tried to shove him a handful of crumpled bills. "You never know what you'll need it for."

And she really doesn't know. Garfiel won't accept any money for the living space. Winry gets use of the apartment as a term of her apprenticeship, and Garfiel makes a point of saying that he doesn't care who she has in there with her. Theo, meanwhile, insists Paninya take meals with the household. Her cost of living is, literally, close to nothing.

It's not that she's making a lot of money, she thinks, walking through the market. It's just that she doesn't know what to do with it. She supposes she could buy clothes, but she's already done that. Winry has hinted that Paninya might want to expand her shopping horizons beyond the military surplus store. But she likes tank tops, and camouflage pants, and heavy boots. They're comfortable to work in, and they fit her mechanical legs. She's all set with clothes for the next while, and the fact that they only require a small space in one drawer of Winry's bureau is a bonus. Winry won't take payment for the use of her space, any more than Garfiel will, so Paninya settles for occupying as little of it as possible.

In search of something to buy with her money, she's taken to swinging by the food market on the way back to Garfiel's. Theo is too picky to let someone else do the grocery shopping, but Paninya has found that if she picks something up on the way home every day - an unusual spice or nice-looking fruit - he will, without comment, find a way to work it into an interesting dish. He enjoys the game and everyone in the household gets to reap the benefits.

Today, Paninya sees a vendor selling an expensive sort of mushroom, the kind that people use pigs to uncover in the woods. She's skeptical of the idea, but Theo has been dropping enough less-than-subtle hints that she knows he'd like try one. Paninya counts out her money and remembers not to be offended at how closely the vendor examines it. _This time last month, I was a thief. He's not judging me unfairly. He knows me and he's giving me a second chance._

Paninya smiles and takes her package.

The stand next to the market is run by a man called Yeager, and stocked with all manner of shiny baubles. Paninya tries to pass it quickly. It isn't that this merchant would expect her to steal from him. It's that he used to buy the things she stole from tourists.

"Paninya!" Yeager calls, and she turns reluctantly.

He's leaning on the counter, chin in his hands. "Soooo, Miss Paninya. Haven't seen you around here, lately."

"I'm just -" She holds out the bag containing her purchase. "I'm doing some shopping for my housemates. I'm - I'm working now. At a job, for Ms. Earhart. If she likes it - maybe she'll get me more jobs."

"Yes, yes," Yeager says, then beckoning her close, he whispers, "What's your angle?"

"I'm not - I don't -" Then she laughs, understanding his implication. "I'm not planning a heist, Mr. Yeager. I really am reforming." She shrugs. "It turns out honest work pays better and it's not so much of a hassle."

"Hmm." Yeager crosses his arms, and Paninya realizes he might be taking that as an insult. Her eyes wander to a row of pocketwatches hanging along one wall of his stand. If she had made a clean getaway with Edward's watch, it would have ended up there.

Quickly, before Yeager can get too cross with her, she says, "Now that I'm working, I can buy something from you!"

"How much you got?" he grunts.

"Not very much," she says - which, at the moment, is true. Those mushrooms were expensive. Her eyes travel over the shelf and they rest on a ring. A casual glance tells her it's nothing fancy, but she knows it's the one she wants.

"How much is that?" Paninya asks. She's pointing to a much nicer ring several slots over from the one that she really wants. Yeager's eyes light up.

Ten minutes later, she walks away with almost no money left, but her prize tucked in her pocket. Yeager thinks that he steered her away from an item that was out of her range, and conned her into paying too much for a worthless bauble, but Paninya knows better. She has exactly the ring she wants. The cornflower blue stone at its center may be cheap paste, but it happens to be the exact color of Winry Rockbell's eyes.

*  
Paninya swings the bedroom door open without knocking, which is typical, and finds Winry lying facedown, her shoulders shaking - which isn't.

"I'm sorry!" Paninya gasps, jumping backwards. She starts to shut the door. "I'm so so sorry."

"No, it's - it's okay," says Winry. "It's okay, really. Come in."

Paninya still hesitates for a moment, giving Winry time to pull herself together, before walking back in.

Winry is sitting on the far side of the bed, her back turned. "I'm just really tired."

Paninya kneels on the bed, and scoots over to rest her chin on Winry's shoulder. "I'm sorry I made you talk about the war. Major Chase is really nice. She didn't mean to upset you, either."

"You didn't -" Winry says. "That is, I shouldn't -" She pulls her legs onto the bed (there's only one in the room, and it's not too big) so that she's sitting cross-legged facing Paninya. Her eyes are red and puffy. She's trying so hard to smile. "I shouldn't be sad," she says. "Look at everything I have. Look at how lucky I am. Practically everybody I know has been through the same thing I did. Or way worse. I mean, look at you." She squeezes Paninya's hand, and Paninya isn't sure what to do with that. Winry feeling sorry for _her_ isn't the way this was supposed to go. So she wiggles her hand free and digs into the pocket of her camo pants.

"Look what I got you," Paninya pulls out the ring, offering it in the palm of her hand.

Winry gives an excited gasp, and for a second Paninya is thrilled at the success of her gift. Then Winry frowns. "Where'd that come fron?" she says warily.

"Mr. Yeager sold it to me. Sold it," she repeats, firmly, and thrusts her hand toward Winry. "It wasn't expensive. It's not fancy. But I thought of you. Your eyes."

Winry lifts it cautiously, with her thumb and forefinger, but she says, "You should save your money."

"For what?" Paninya demands, hating the tears that well up in her own eyes. Between you and Garfiel and Theo and Mr. Dominic - " She rubs tears away with the back of a hand. "It's not fair that I don't ever get to give you anything."

"I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm sorry." Winry looks down at the ring. "I guess I should get better about accepting things. Thank you, it's -" She slips the ring onto her fourth finger. It fits a little loosely, but it fits. "Thank you." She leans in to kiss Paninya on the cheek. Then she pauses, pulls back, and when she leans in again, her kiss lands squarely on Paninya's lips.

Paninya tells herself that it's the last thing in the world she expected. She's never kissed anyone, never done anything but stick her tongue out and handspring away from men who called out to her in the street. It can't be that surprising, though, because she returns the kiss. The back of Paninya's hand has fallen against her thigh, and Winry weaves her fingers through Paninya's. As their palms press together, Paninya feels the cool metal of the ring against her skin.

After a while they have to stop, and Paninya says, "I wasn't trying to get you to do that."

"But it's okay," Winry says, "Right?" She looks around the small room and the tiny bed. "I hope I didn't just make this super awkward for you."

"No, you didn't," Paninya says. "And it's not just okay. It's great."

As they fall asleep together, Paninya thinks of something she needs Winry to know. She's got everything figured out, in that quiet haze between waking and sleep, but by the time she wakes up in the morning, it's a mystery again.

*  
One night not long after, Paninya gets so caught up in her work that, by the time Maggie spots her and calls her to quit for the day, the sun is almost settled on the horizon in the West.

"Oops!" says Paninya. "I guess I'm just way too focused and responsible!"

"That's what I was going to say," Maggie tells her drily, but smiles as she hands over the day's wages.

Paninya thinks over the day as she jogs home, thinks about Winry and their cozy bed and what it was she's been meaning to say. When she gets home, Winry is still at work in the studio. Paninya knocks on the frame of the open door.

Winry spins around, then bursts into a smile when she sees Paninya. "Look what I did!" She holds up the ring, in one hand and a pair of wire cutters in another. "You know how this didn't quite fit?" she asks, then slips it onto the upper part of her left earlobe. Now there are five earrings up that side. "I just made it a clipon for now. If I like it there, I can change it to a piercing or -" She frowns. "If you hate it, I can put it back on my hand. I know it was your ring."

"It was my present to you." Paninya stops close to Winry, puts her hands on the other girl's hips, and presses against her whole body as their lips meet in a kiss. After a while, Paninya murmurs, "And it looks great on you. But clean up and come on with me. I have something important to show you."

A few minutes later, they're up in the room. But instead of stopping at the bed, Paninya pulls open a window. "Come up here with me." She steps outside, finds foot and handholds easily, and climbs onto the roof.

Winry sticks her head out uncertainly. "Are you sure?" she asks.

"It's easy." Paninya holds out a steadying hand, and shows Winry where to step. In a moment they're lying side by side on their stomachs.

"This is what you're showing me?" Winry says with a laugh. She hangs her head down toward the street. "The view from the roof?"

"Yes," Paninya says. "But not like that." She puts a finger beneath Winry's chin, and tilts her face upwards. This gives her a view out over the rooftops of Rush Valley. "I'm showing you my world. You can learn anything and go anywhere in this town from the rooftops." She points up. "And we're a little closer to a great-looking sunset, too."

Winry nods, then rolls on her side, propping her chin in the palm of one hand. "So you're saying you'd rather sleep on the roof than with me."

"I'm saying, I want to sleep _with you_ on the roof." She paused. "Not like that." Probably not.

"That would be a little much, even for Rush Valley." She leans in and kisses Paninya on the tip of her nose.

Smiling, Paninya rolls over onto her back, and hooks her automail leg over Winry's ankle, to draw her foot closer. As she speaks, Paninya crosses her hands behind her head and looks up into the sky, where she can see the pinpricks of stars beginning to appear. "I'm happy you came here, Winry Rockbell. I'm happy when you're happy, and it breaks my heart when you cry. I love the work that I do, and if you hadn't encouraged me to start doing it, I never would have taken the chance. But what I've been wanting to explain to you is that I was already happy before you came here. I didn't need you to rescue me. I love Rush Valley, and I liked a lot of things about my old life. I was sad sometimes, like I'm sad sometimes now. Like you're sad sometimes, too." She reaches over now and squeezes Winry's hand. "And that's okay. Okay?"

She finally has the nerve to look over at Winry and, in the fading light, sees tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's more than okay," Winry says. "It's wonderful."

Paninya lets herself smile, and she pulls Winry closer. "The point is, don't ever be afraid to cry on my shoulder."

"I won't," Winry says, curling tight against her. "But I don't feel like crying now. It's so beautiful here, and I'm so happy, and I don't want to cry now at all."

Even as Winry says this, tears are rolling down her face, and onto Paninya's shoulder. It's another of Winry's contradictions, another puzzle, but right now, with the stars rising above them and Rush Valley spread out beneath, Paninya isn't too worried about working it all out.


End file.
